In their How to Read a Book (1940, 1972), Mortimer Adler and
Charles Van Doren append "A Recommended Reading List." They write: "On
the following pages appears a list of books that it would be worth your
while to read. We mean the phrase 'worth your while' quite seriously. Although
not all of the books listed are 'great' in any of the commonly accepted
meanings of the term, all of them will reward you for the effort you make
to read them. All of these books are over most people's heads - sufficiently
so, at any rate, to force most readers to stretch their minds to understand
and appreciate them. And that, of course, is the kind of book you should
seek out if you want to improve your reading skills, and at the same time
discover the best that has been thought and said in our literary tradition."
In some instances where a general title for an author is cited, e.g. Works,
Tragedies, the particular titles recommended by the authors are shown in
parentheses.